Salaries for train drivers

[Dom Tuk]

Is it true that starting salaries for train drivers is approx 32K. Why then do bus/coach drivers start at 15K (similar jobs) university lecturers at 24K and school teachers at 15K. The argument that peoples lives depend on train drivers' expertise is again not valid as nurses start at a measly 15K. Where is the logic in this.

[silly moo]

Supply and demand!
Not many people want to be train drivers.
Not sure if your figures are right or not, but in London tube drivers are VERY VERY well paid.

[pooks123]

yes they are paid well but  long hours underground all day possibly helping to drag a body out from under your tube ,all make it in my book a bloody hard job that they should payed well for

[kentishbear]

as a tube worker... all i can say is that they deserve all the money they get.. long solitary hours underground.. accidents as described above and above all verbal and physical abuse.. shift patterns make a normal social life almost impossible..

all i can say to people who moan about the salary the drivers earn is..   become a driver!!  see how you like it.. you can always go back to your �15k..

[ursula62]

I think Dom's point wasn't that tube drivers are paid too much, rather that the others are not paid enough.

[cheyenne]

I would not want to drive a Tube,People commiting suicide Right in front of you a couple of times a week!!give me any of the other jobs, anytime!!

[sandbach99]

Nobody in an essential job is paid enough, no footballer, pop star or movie star is essential yet they are paid huge amounts of money,   why?  

[Octavius]

With the professions that you have listed, it would seem clear to me that the answer would be because of the additional risk and health/sight requirements of a train driver.  3 million people travel on the London Underground everyday, thats a lot of people to keep safe.

For example - The Victoria line covers 21km (13.25 miles) and serves 16 stations. The whole line is below ground except for Northumberland Park depot where overhaul and maintenance work is carried out.

The line has 43 trains, of which 37 trains are currently needed for service in the peak periods.

It's not something I would do, but I take my hat off to those men and women who work the shifts alone underground making sure that they stop and start at the right time, safely open and close the days and deliver us all home safe and sound every night and day.  Never mind pulling into crowded platforms and the suicide squad.

[Octavius]

That should be open and close the doors, thankfully they don't have the responsibility of sunrise and sunset.